Origin:
English nouns can be either pure roots, Saxon (horse), French (age), or Latin (genus), or words formed by adding classical or Saxon prefixes and suffixes, or compound names, or verbal nouns.
Verbal Nouns:
The ending -ing added to a verb forms a gerund or verbal noun. (§ 230) Example: To read, reading; to cross, the crossing; to act, the acting.
Saxon Prefixes:
mis = pejorative : ………….. misfortune, mistake, misprint, mishap.
un = contrary, negation: ……… untruth, unbelief, unreality, uncertainty.
Prepositions: over, under, out, alter, etc. : overcoat, undervest, afterthought, etc…
Classical Prefixes.
Classical prefixes (Latin or Greek) are generally found in French.
com-, con-, = with compassion, confederation, etc.
dis, in-, = contrary disapproval, disuse, inaction, etc…
re-, = repetition or return to the primitive state rearmament, redress, relapse, etc….
ab-, ad-. per-, sub-, dia-, en-, hemi-, etc… percentage, advent, diameter, etc….
Saxon Suffixes.
a) Concrete Nouns:
-er, -or, -ar, after a verb or a noun, express the agent.
Ex: a hat, a hatter; to play, a player; to conjure, a conjuror; to lie, a liar.
-le, after a noun or a verb, expresses an instrument. Ex: a hand, a handle; to gird, a girdle.
-ie, -let, -ling, added to a noun, form diminutives.
Ex: a bird, a birdie; a brook, a brooklet; a goose, a gosling.
b) Abstract Nouns:
-d, -t, added to a verb, give the corresponding noun.
Ex: to do, a deed; to flow, a flood; to fly, a flight; to draw, a draught, etc.
-th, after a verb or an adjective, gives the corresponding noun.
Ex: long, the length; wide, the width; to bear, the birth; to grow, the growth.
-dom, after a noun or an adjective, indicates a condition or a domain.
Ex: king, kingdom; earl, earldom; duke, dukedom; free, freedom; wise, wisdom.
-hood, after an adjective or a noun, indicates a period or a state. Example: child, childhood; false, falsehood; neighbor, neighborhood, etc.
-ful, after a noun, expresses a quantity or container. Example: basketful, handful, mouthful, boxful, houseful, spoonful, pocketful, etc.
-ship, after a noun, or sometimes an adjective, forms abstract nouns. Example: hardship, friendship, scholarship, lordship, worship, apprenticeship, etc.
-ness, after an adjective, also forms an abstract noun. Example: lazy, laziness; careless, carelessness; graceful, gracefulness; weak, weakness.
Classic suffixes.
Classic suffixes (Latin or Greek) are commonly found in French.
-ace, -ade, -al, -le, -an, -ain, -on, -en, -ance, -ence, -and, -end, -ant, -ent, -ard, -ary, -ar, -er, -or, -ate, -el, -le, -ice, -ion, -fion, -ation, -ment, -on, -ry.
Tonic accent.
Certain suffixes give the tonic accent a fixed position (§ 383).
Compound nouns is here